The Henley College offers students the opportunity to take part in our Industrial Placement Programme which is designed to help them gain industry knowledge and employability skills in their chosen field.
Industry placements are a valuable opportunity to put your learning into practice and develop technical skills relevant to your vocational courses.
June Hogan, our dedicated Industrial Placement Coordinator, works with students to help them apply to their chosen company, prepare for interviews and then checks in with them during the placement to see how they are progressing.
A recent placement programme success story is Travel and Tourism (Extended Diploma) Level 3 student, Summer Allen-Hallett:
“As part of my course, I was lucky enough to take part in the college Industrial placement programme as I was lucky to know what career path I wanted to go down. This for me is Real Estate. I had a very good contact and with the help of my teacher June Hogan, who spoke to my contact about the Industrial placement, I was able to secure a place with Knight Frank in London. Every Wednesday I would travel to the office that I was assigned to for that week, and the college funded my travel expenses. During my time there I would take clients to viewings and I also took videos of properties to update the website. Working with Knight Frank showed me how much everyone enjoyed their jobs and I got to experience what the negotiators did on a day-to-day basis.
During this placement I have had a taste of what it's like working for Knight Frank and this has helped me decide that this is the career pathway that I want to take. As a result of the Industrial placement, I have been offered a job at one of the offices as a junior lettings negotiator which will start after I have finished by college course this year.
Doing this Industrial placement has given me the opportunity to gain new skills as well as the employability skills required for real life work.
At the age of 17 I have already secured a job at a top estate agency in central London. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to take part in the Industrial Placement programme.”
June Hogan spoke of Summer’s success:
“At the age of 17 Summer Allen-Hallett has secured herself a permanent job role with Knight Frank in London after taking part in the college Industrial placement programme. Summer has been attending placement one day a week over the academic year and has shown dedication and enthusiasm throughout.
This placement has given Summer the chance to develop the skills, workplace behaviours and experience that industry needs. Well done Summer!”
A number of our current Business Level 3 students are undertaking placements with Cisco, including Charlotte Batson:
“I first found out about the Cisco industrial placement through The Henley College, before I did the interview, we were given lots of support by internal staff members of the College including tutors, and June Hogan the Industry Placement Coordinator.
The interview was 30 minutes and was made up of three parts: we had to make a PowerPoint, do a role-play and talk about ourselves. Overall, the interview process was pleasant and despite my initial nerves I felt comfortable once I started talking, we found out if we were successful very quickly and then we started to work with people at Cisco.
There are many benefits to the Cisco industrial placement, the main one for me is being able to explore a company I may not have considered without this placement. I have learnt about different aspects of the business and it has helped me to understand what I may want to do when I leave The Henley College. Doing the industrial placement also looks good on your CV and will help you to better understand what it’s like to be in the working environment.
Since starting at Cisco I have already found myself asking more questions and being more confident to explore different challenges and I look forward to learning more with the support of staff there.”
Another current Business Studies student on placement at Cisco is Rijuvani Stretha:
“Knowing Cisco is a multinational company was quite intermediating at first but after securing this industrial placement, it has really widened my knowledge, challenged me to step out of my comfort zone and definitely helped me gain and develop a range of skills including presenting and effective communication skills. The experiences I have had so far at Cisco have been invaluable, especially meeting with Cisco’s apprentices and managers which really got me thinking about my future career goals. Overall, I’m very appreciative I got to take on this placement opportunity at Cisco”
Overall students who find their placements for themselves have the best success rate as it shows commitment, initiative and passion for their chosen industry, but the College is here to support students through out the process and help them get the most out of the opportunities that are out there.
To find out more click here > Industrial Placement Programme
Applications to study at The Henley College from September are now open > Apply Online
